Murder Case Against Apartment Guard Goes to Jury

A jury began deliberations Wednesday after hearing conflicting accounts of whether a security guard committed murder when he shot a young driver trespassing in the parking lot of a Rancho Cucamonga apartment complex.

The prosecutor accused Dameon Kashaum Wroe, 32, of West Covina of trying to act like a police officer and said the guard’s “ego and attitude got the best of him.”

Wroe’s “conduct was outrageous and unreasonable, and his conduct was murder,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeremy Carrasco told jurors.

The guard’s attorney said his client was only trying to defend himself because the 19-year-old trespasser, Michael Krause Jr., of Rancho Cucamonga, tried to run him over with his pickup truck.

Wroe “was not a killer; he was a man defending his life,” said defense attorney Donald Calabria. Krause was killed the night of Jan. 1 after Wroe fired four shots into his truck. The San Bernardino County district attorney’s office filed the murder charge after investigators concluded that Wroe had no such right of self-defense, lacking a reason to fear for his life, and that he overreacted to a minor trespassing violation. If convicted on the one count of second-degree murder, Wroe could get 25 years to life.

The incident began when Krause and his friend, Scott Martinez, decided to visit Krause’s girlfriend at the Sycamore Springs apartment complex, in the 7100 block of Archibald Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga.

In his testimony last week, Martinez conceded that they were high on marijuana. He testified that a man punched in a code that opened the security gate, allowing Krause to drive onto the grounds. Minutes later, Wroe tapped on the window of Krause’s pickup, which was now in a parking space, and ordered the two to leave.

Wroe testified that he was then struck by the driver’s side door mirror as Krause quickly reversed. Wroe said he pursued Krause to the gate, hoping to detain him for “assault with a deadly weapon.”

Wroe “is an innocent man who was trying to do his job -- to be on guard for suspicious conduct,” his attorney said. “Michael Krause had bought marijuana, smoked it while driving, made an unauthorized entry into the apartments, then hit the security officer while backing up.

Martinez testified that Wroe caught up with them at the gate and pointed his 9-millimeter handgun at them, arms extended. He said Wroe shouted, “Get out of the car!”

“[Wroe’s] ego and attitude got the best of him. He thought he was a cop, and that’s how he conducted himself,” the prosecutor told jurors. “Who did Michael Krause think he was, blowing off a security officer? [Wroe’s] ego and attitude will not allow that. He was determined to stop that truck.”

Wroe testified that once the gate opened and Krause tried to drive away, he began firing. He said the truck then brushed him, throwing him off balance, and he continued firing, striking Krause once in the chest. “I was in fear for my life,” he said.

Martinez testified that he didn’t see Krause steer toward Wroe, and prosecutor Carrasco said skid marks at the scene showed that the truck was headed straight out of the gate, never veering toward the guard.